5.  The applicant was born in 1998 and lives in Vinkovci.
6.  By a judgment of 14 September 1999 the Vinkovci Municipal Court (Općinski sud u Vinkovcima) ordered the applicant’s father to pay for her maintenance. In particular, he was ordered to pay 500 Croatian kunas (HRK) per month in the period between 7 May and 14 September 1999, and 10% of his salary in the period after the latter date.
7.  On 15 January 2001 the applicant’s mother applied on behalf of her daughter to the Vinkovci Municipal Court for enforcement of that judgment. In particular, she sought payment of HRK 2,500 on account of unpaid outstanding monthly instalments of child maintenance together with the statutory default interest accrued as of 14 September 1999, and garnishment of 10% of the debtor’s salary from the issuance of the writ of execution.
8.  By a decision of 23 January 2001 the Vinkovci Municipal Court declined its territorial jurisdiction in the matter and transferred the case to the Varaždin Municipal Court (Općinski sud u Varaždinu).
9.  On 20 March 2001 the Varaždin Municipal Court invited the applicant’s mother to supplement the application for enforcement by enclosing the judgment sought to be enforced stamped with the certificate of enforceability, and the power-of-attorney authorising the applicant’s advocate to represent her in the proceedings. The applicant’s mother did so on 9 April 2001.
10.  On 20 April 2001 the court invited the applicant’s mother to correct the application for enforcement by specifying outstanding monthly instalments of child maintenance that had not been paid by the debtor, and the statutory default interest accrued on each unpaid instalment.
11.  On 7 May 2001 the applicant’s mother replied that in the application for enforcement she had sought payment of HRK 2,500 with the statutory default interest accrued from 14 September 1999 (see paragraph 7 above) and thus saw no reason why the application for enforcement had to be corrected.
12.  On 3 February 2002 the applicant’s mother urged the court to speed up the proceedings and issue a writ of execution (rješenje o ovrsi). She indicated that the debtor was paying the child maintenance at his own discretion and convenience both in terms of amount and time, rather than in accordance with the judgment sought to be enforced.
13.  On 18 February 2003 the Varaždin Municipal Court issued a writ of execution by garnishment of the debtor’s salary in the manner sought in the application for enforcement, and forwarded the writ to the debtor’s employer. The court also specified that the funds would be transferred to the applicant mother’s account once the writ became final.
14.  On 3 March 2003 the debtor appealed against the writ. He claimed that he was regularly paying the child maintenance and submitted some documentary evidence in support of his claim.
15.  On 17 March 2003 the applicant’s mother invited the court to forward the appeal to the second-instance court and suggested that the documents submitted by the debtor be forwarded to his employer with a view to deducting of what had been paid and paying her the difference.
16.  On 25 November 2003 the Varaždin Municipal Court invited the applicant’s mother to specify to what extent the debtor had not complied with his obligation to pay child maintenance. The applicant’s mother did not reply.
17.  On 19 May 2004 the debtor’s employee returned the writ of execution to the first-instance court informing it that the debtor had retired on 30 December 2003.
18.  On 15 September 2005 the court held a hearing which the applicant’s representative did not attend.
19.  On 11 December 2005, 20 November 2006 and 5 February and 31 May 2007 the court again invited the applicant’s mother to specify to what extent the debtor had not complied with his obligation to pay child maintenance (see paragraph 16 above).
20.  On 14 June 2007 the applicant’s mother asked the court to carry out the writ of execution by garnishment of the debtor’s pension. She reiterated that in the period between 14 September 1999 and 11 June 2007 the debtor was not regularly paying the child maintenance. She also submitted that since payments had been rare and irregular she had not been able to keep the record and thus suggested to obtain payment slips from the debtor in order to determine how much of the child maintenance he had paid in that period.
21.  On 4 September 2007 the court held a hearing which the applicant’s mother and representative did not attend. At the hearing the debtor was unable to prove all his payments because he was no longer in possession of all payment slips. On the same day the court invited the Croatian Postal Service to provide that information but it eventually informed the court that it could not provide the information requested.
22.  On 26 September 2007 the court for the sixth time invited the applicant’s mother to specify to what extent the debtor had not complied with his obligation to pay child maintenance (see paragraphs 16 and 19 above). On 22 December 2007 the court reiterated its request.
23.  On 30 January 2008 the applicant’s mother reiterated that the debtor was not regularly paying the child maintenance and that therefore she was unable to keep record of his payments and specify to what extent he had not complied with his obligation (see paragraph 20 above). She invited the court to simply order garnishment of 10% of the debtor’s pension with a view to securing payment of future instalments.
24.  On 28 October 2008 the court invited the regional office of the Croatian Pension Fund to provide the information on the level of the debtor’s pension. On 5 November 2008 the Fund submitted the requested information.
25.  On 4 November 2008 the applicant’s mother in a telephone conversation urged the court to deliver a decision and reiterated that she was unable to specify the unpaid instalments of maintenance (see paragraphs 20 and 23 above).
26.  On 31 May 2010 the court invited the applicant’s mother to make submissions as regards further actions to be taken in the enforcement proceedings.
27.  On 10 June 2010 the applicant’s mother informed the court that the debtor owed the total of HRK 15,000 on account of unpaid instalments of child maintenance and invited it to order garnishment of his pension in the amount of at least HRK 700 per month with a view to securing payment of future instalments. On 14 July 2010 the debtor replied that he was regularly paying the maintenance and thus owed nothing to the applicant.
28.  On 31 July 2010 the court held a hearing which both parties attended. The applicant’s mother reiterated that the debtor owed HRK 15,000 on account of unpaid instalments of child maintenance but could not specify in respect of which period given that he was paying the maintenance only partially and irregularly (see paragraphs 20, 23, 25 and 27 above). The debtor replied that the documentary evidence he had submitted (see paragraph 14 above) suggested that he had thus far paid for the applicant’s maintenance HRK 53,739. At the end of the hearing the court yet again invited the applicant’s mother to specify the exact amount of the applicant’s claim and suggest further steps to be taken in the proceedings, within fifteen days otherwise the application for enforcement would be considered withdrawn.
29.  On 13 September 2010 the applicant’s mother did so by stating that the debtor owed HRK 24,331. She again asked the court to order garnishment of 10% of his pension with a view to securing payment of future instalments (see paragraph 23 above). In his reply of 24 September 2010 the debtor again denied existence of any debt (see paragraph 27 above) but agreed to garnishment of 10% of his pension.
30.  On 3 May 2011 the court again invited the applicant’s mother to propose further steps to be taken in the proceedings (see paragraphs 26 and 28 above).
31.  On 26 May 2011 the applicant’s representative invited the court to obtain an expert opinion in order to determine the exact amount of the debt.
32.  By a decision of 3 May 2012 the court decided on the debtor’s appeal of 3 March 2003 (see paragraph 14 above) so that it instructed him to institute separate civil proceedings to declare the enforcement inadmissible (in part or in full). That decision became final on 6 June 2012. As a result thereof, the writ of execution of 18 February 2003 (see paragraph 13 above) also became final on the same day.
33.  On 11 July 2012 the court informed the Croatian Pension Fund that the writ of execution had become final and ordered it to commence garnishment of 10% of the debtor’s pension.
34.  On 6 September 2012 the court invited the Croatian Pension Fund to inform it whether it had complied with the court’s order of 11 July 2012.
35.  On 21 September 2012 the Croatian Pension Fund informed the court that it could not have complied with the order because 1/3 of the debtor’s pension – allegedly the maximum portion of one’s income that could be garnished under the law (see paragraphs 57-59 below) – was already being garnished pursuant to the writ of execution issued in the concurrent enforcement proceedings in which the applicant sought enforcement of another (newer) judgment ordering payment of child maintenance (see paragraphs 44-49 below).
36.  The garnishment of 10% of the debtor’s pension pursuant to the writ of execution of 18 February 2003 (see paragraph 13 above) was therefore suspended until the other writ was carried out in full, that is, until 12 December 2013 (see paragraph 49 below).
37.  On 1 January 2014 the Fund commenced garnishment of the debtor’s pension pursuant to the writ of execution of 18 February 2003. That writ was carried out in full on 12 November 2014 whereupon on 20 February 2015 the court issued a decision declaring that the enforcement was completed.
38.  Meanwhile, on 26 May 2011 the applicant’s mother on behalf of her daughter lodged a request for protection of the right to a hearing within a reasonable time (zahtjev za zaštitu prava na suđenje u razumnom roku) with the Varaždin County Court (Županijski sud u Varaždinu) complaining about the length of the above enforcement proceedings.
39.  By a decision of 22 February 2012 the Varaždin County Court found a violation of the applicant’s right to a hearing within a reasonable time, awarded her 6,600 Croatian kunas (HRK) in compensation and ordered the Varaždin Municipal Court to complete the enforcement within six months of service of its decision. It held that the proceedings had not been complex, that there had been substantial periods of inactivity in the proceedings attributable to the first-instance court amounting altogether to five and a half years, and that a delay of more than one year and eight months had been attributable to the applicant who had failed to specify the amounts sought even though she had been repeatedly invited to do so (see paragraphs 16, 19, 22 and 28 above).
40.  On 13 February 2012 the applicant appealed complaining about the amount of the compensation.
41.  By a decision of 18 May 2012 the Supreme Court (Vrhovni sud Republike Hrvatske) increased the amount of compensation to HRK 8,100 having regard to the urgent character of the enforcement proceedings and to what was at stake for the applicant (payment of child maintenance).
42.  On 20 September 2012 the applicant’s mother on behalf of her daughter lodged a constitutional complaint against the Supreme Court’s decision.
43.  By a decision of 15 November 2012 the Constitutional Court (Ustavni sud Republike Hrvatske) declared inadmissible the applicant’s constitutional complaint and on 4 December 2012 served its decision on her representative. It held that the contested decision was not amenable to constitutional review in terms of section 62 of the Constitutional Court Act (see paragraph 52 below).
44.  In the meantime, on 12 May 2011 the applicant’s mother on behalf of her daughter instituted proceedings before the Varaždin Municipal Court against the applicant’s father with a view to increasing the level of child maintenance stipulated in the judgment of 14 September 1999 (see paragraph 6 above).
45.  By a judgment of 21 September 2011 the court ruled for the applicant and ordered her father to pay HRK 800 per month for her maintenance as of 25 May 2011. The judgment became final on 9 February 2012 and enforceable on 12 March 2012.
46.  On 15 April 2012 the applicant’s mother applied on behalf of her daughter to the same municipal court for enforcement of that judgment.
47.  On 25 April 2012 that court issued a writ of execution by garnishment of the debtor’s pension, which became final on 30 May 2012.
48.  On 13 July 2012 the court ordered the Croatian Pension Fund to commence garnishment of the debtor’s pension.
49.  In the period between 17 July 2012 and 12 December 2013 the Fund was garnishing from the debtor’s pension the amounts corresponding to the regular monthly instalments of maintenance as they were becoming due, as well as the unpaid outstanding instalments. By the latter date all outstanding instalments of maintenance had been paid and the Fund has continued to garnish only the regular instalments as they became due.